Winter Blog

We're transferring back to our winter blog, www.winterspk.blogspot.com.
The summer season is winding down and we are all happy to have cooler weather and thoughts of runs to be.
Wildlife seems to be very active and enjoying the cooler temps as well.  Interesting scats on the trails.
So head into fall with us at the winter blog.

Straw

Our winter straw count has begun.    Yesterday we picked up four new bales, totaling six bales of straw for winter, 2012, 2013.  

While Alaska is being torn apart by winds and floods (sounds like it's merciless), we are experiencing an early , very welcome, cool down.   From hot to frost in one week.  

The winter prep is slow as each house must be assessed and repaired.   We're lucky enough to have new pallets, as well, which requires lifting each house and replacing the under pallet.   The dogs appreciate the repairs so much that they vie for the newly repaired houses as they come along.
They actually have 'sit ins'... the first dog to get the house stays in it, pretty cute.

Actually, the house dogs do the same thing.  They vie for the best dog bed and play musical beds at bed time, moving from one to another until one 'wins'.  I can't see the difference in the house beds, but I think it's positioning... wherever they perceive the best view or position to be.

Photos from last night's bedtime trail walk.

 

End of Season, Winter Prep

While it pours rain the next few days, and we appreciate it, we are working on winter prep for the pens.   Each house will get a new door and all already have their first fresh slices of straw.
Straw and corn are both up this year.   We are getting corn (for deer) at $8 now but it is as high as $11 locally , for 50 lb.  The midwest drought will be felt in all supplies this winter, we suspect.

Bow hunting season is on, thus, we are doubly careful of securing dogs.  However, at 3AM,  Ruthie , our chief dog excavator, appeared on the front porch.   Helpful and vigilant Copper simply got up from his bed and sat facing the front door (he's the silent type).  I awakened, saw him sitting,  and found that Ruthie was sitting on the other side, having somehow escaped.   So, out I went in the rain ,to secure her until morning, in a closer pen.  Copper galloped alongside, herding her.  Since all is silent right now, I'm hoping she is still secure.

A friend of Jim's brought us new pallets, so each house , slowly but surely, will have a new and sturdier pallet to lift each off of the winter ground.   That is a lot of house wrestling.

I've been a bit under the weather all summer, but it appears that I'm on the mend, so hopefully we have an active winter ahead for dogs and humans.  We all love the fall cool air and beautiful colors.

Retiring Sled Dogs

Can you imagine anyone with more of a need for an active ongoing life than a retiring sled dog?
Over the past 18 years we have been so fortunate to provide a place for sled dogs to retire from 1000 mile races and extreme temperatures, but it certainly has not been a sedentary existence for these amazing dogs.

We have bred some of these retirees and with their expertise and help we have trained our own teams, but' in the lead or team we've always had  retirees, as well.   The races we've run have ranged from one to 30 miles, all ages of humans, but the training for these has been every day activity and enjoyment for all of the kennel dogs.  Those who can't run in teams run free every day.

I've read that getting into sled dogs is like jumping on a cliff , you grow your wings in the air.  Our first retiree was Scuba and she had raced with Susan Butcher.  She was anything but retired!   She raised her pups and trained them in spite of me.  I hung on while she taught them to pull and me to drive, literally.   The first ride she ever took me on was in a wilderness setting.  She dumped me and kept on going.   I like to say she was waiting at the truck with a "Where were you, rookie?" attitude when I reached her, after I had walked several miles.   She knew what SHE  was doing, I just had to catch up.  So I grew my wings under the tutelage of some amazing dogs. 

In the meantime, I learned that they acclimate better if you follow their rules.  They come here and let us know who they are and what they need, in various ways.   Some are more forthcoming than others.  But we find that, when we've listened to them and given them a nice home with amenities and safety, they settle in and learn trust, the basis for memorable relationships.  They don't come as prima donnas, , but they
are to be honored and given dignified treatment.  For that, they are grateful and the trust grows between us.
We love to see them settle into trailwalking and companionships and house visits.  

As I reflect on how we welcome and accomodate these lifetime friends, it occurs to me it is not too unlike

retirement settings for humans.   They want physical and mental challenge that they can select;  they want companionship or they don't;  they appreciate and need love and attention and good medical care.  And, as 16 year old Lillen would tell you , they aren't done racing yet.   She walks on a lead now for safety, but her return is always a race to the finish line, she's clearly used to winning.  She can't see her walking partners too well nor hear them, but she's just winning, out in front.  Every day she wins and we cheer. 

PHOTO:

Great team with 'retirees' Martin, Skinny, Frita, Stella, Lillen and their offspring, on six mile run.

Coexistence

 

It's a peaceful valley at this time of year at Summer Place Kennel.   The deer are foraging for leftover berries, which are scarce, and are eating the last downed apples, which have also been fairly scarce.

The dogs are cooling off after the hottest summer on record in Wisconsin.  Wisconsin topped the charts of the lower 48 for most extreme, record heat.   Accompanied by a drought, this brought hot

and sandy conditions for most of the summer.

 

Fall Harvest

Siberian Husky needs new home

A two year old, neutered male, purebred Siberian Husky named Chewie (Chewbacca) needs a new home.
He is currently living in Neenah, WI and needs room to run and friends to run with him.   If you can refer him or adopt him, please call :  Rachel Leary, 920.216.6076 or message us on Facebook or on this blog.
Thank you!

Still summer

Very hot and humid yesterday and again today.   There is a hint of fall but this weather reminds us that it is still summer.   Lillen is having a problem with her back leg, so she's receiving injections.
We're hoping it is temporary but she is almost 16 and has outlived all of the other dogs of her SPK era.   She's tough headed, tough bodied, just generally as tough as she is sweet.   We're doing what we can for her.

The fruit is sparse this year... few blueberries, better raspberries, fewer blackberries and almost
no cherries, but here the deer are finding the few dropped cherries.

Pictures worth a thousand words.

Nice Guy

Traffic

Wildlife traffic is picking up with the raspberries ripening well all over the acreage.   Expecting to see more deer and bears, as the big apple tree (their favorite) has a nice crop already dropping off the tree.   Nice bucks hiding out but comfy here.
We've dropped twenty degrees from Sunday and although, still too humid, it is much more tolerable for dogs and the resident human.
The fields are actually turning a lot brown, but there appears to be hope of some slight rain this evening.
Blueberries are holdouts, green and tiny, at least on this acreage, but some bit of ripening.  We love Joe Pye
weed and so do the butterflies.
And the field strawberries never did even blossom.
The sunflowers are the height they usually don't reach until August and the pumpkins are doing well.  Not so,
the peas.   Odd year.

95 Degrees

Hot and humid, but fortunately, it's a bit windy.   The dogs have had a tough few days, but their pools are cleaned and filled, they have fresh water, they've been bathed and the weather forecast says that it will be down to 73 by 6PM... do we believe it?  

Buddy has been hiding out in the house and thinks being a house dog is far preferable to the sandy pens.

The wild creatures are hot, too.  We find them hiding /cooling off in unexpected places.  Not telling where we saw some nice bucks.

The cabin is being painted brown and it's looking very nice.   All in all, we're hanging in there in the
impossible heat.

Summertime living is NOT easy

Heat, humidity and no rain make for uncomfortable surroundings for our good dogs.   We do what we can to minimize their discomfort, including fresh, cold, clean water twice daily, clean pools each day, water baths with a massage towel and yes, ice cream from a spoon when it's high 80's.  They're very polite with the ice cream, waiting their turns to lick the spoon.

We haven't had rain for quite a few days so a thunderstorm predicted for tonight will be welcome, even though it will scare the dogs.  We need the pounding rain in the pens and on the grassy trails.  It could bring a break in the humidity but not for long.   Mid July, the summer time living is not easy, especially for the blueberries.    The raspberries are alive and well, but the blueberries and the lily of the valley are having a hard time developing.   Buddy likes his inside bed (with air conditioning);  Copper spends time outside but is quickly acclimating to air conditioning too.

Summer Heat, wildlife

The air is dripping with humidity and today's temp is expected to reach 91.  For SPK dogs that means hiding out in the shade and digging holes deeper.  The biting flies have been out in force and the dogs are hiding from them as well as from the heat.   We use SWAT on their ears and hose down the pens to keep them more comfortable.   The pools are being filled as well.

The word back from the DNR on the cat photo is that they believe this to be a bobcat.   Bobcats are more kennel friendly than cougars, so we do hope that is the case.  However, we have had several
cougar spottings out our way in recent years, so we don't really know, but continue to view the wildlife regularly via sightings and cameras.

Among the wildlife visitors recently is a beautiful buck who is traveling solo right now.   His antlers are already quite long and by photos , he looks to be a possible four point so far.

Cat at front gate

June 2, 2012, 2:09 AM, traffic at the front gate.   Looks pretty tough to me.   This is the best photo
we've been able to capture in the past few years of viewing cats out here.  Looks like a cat on a mission.

The North Woods Calls

The Pine River in Florence County, WI is a designated wild river.   You can paddle for two hours without seeing another person or structure.  You might even miss the takeout if you don't know the
'flags'.   We had a great group of paddlers yesterday, the youngest, age five, Josefina;  the oldest, age 81, Jim, not that age matters... just that any one can enjoy the Pine.  Josefina was entertained by turtles and birds and being on her first kayak adventure.   The river was low but passable.  We had a good rain last night, but it didn't seem to have done much for the river level, when we crossed over checking it today.  Nothing like a paddle on the Pine, healing, peaceful, cheerful, quiet, beautiful, wild, private, pristine.  We can take you on a guided paddle on a variety of different kinds of north woods waters.

SPK Paddle on the Pine

We had a group of seven kayaks today, ages five to 81 and one canine.  The Pine River
was a bit low, a few of us got stuck a couple of times, but mostly it was a perfect day on the river.
Turtles, birds of all kinds, ducks, a loon visited us on our two hour journey.

Wildfire at Spread Eagle

There was a wildfire at Spread Eagle this afternoon, closest one has come to us and too close for comfort.  We always had a plan to take our dogs to our river land if we should have a wildfire, but we can't do that now.   Fortunately we had a downpour and thunder storms which deluged us with water, thus saving the day, I'm guessing, with the wildfire.   It's been the loudest boomer for the dogs so far and they did not like it.  There was some accompanying hail and the temp dropped twenty degrees, for which we are grateful (dogs and I).

In the news

We are off of Second Crossing road in the Town of Florence, WI.   Today's local paper reports and has trail cam photos of a recent sighting of a mountain lion off on Second Crossing Road, near the Brule River.   It's interesting that our summer blog photo showing us crossing the bridge of the Brule is in just that area where the cat was sighted.   We've seen a cat or two over the years out here, so we're not surprised, but it is interesting that is published now.   As we always say, when you for a trail walk, look UP... the trees are interesting shelters for bears, bear cubs, cats, turkeys, porcupines.   This area has very interesting wildlife, coexisting with us.

Look carefully in the photo and you will see bear  cubs in the left and right v's of the tree, Mama was standing her ground watching us as we passed her by on the lawn mower, last June.

Welcome to our Summer Blog.

Our summer blog is a running commentary on summer for our sled dogs and humans.
We welcome kennel visits, volunteers and persons interested in learning about the whole world of sled dogs.   Believe us, it doesn't end in the winter!  The dogs run every day and of course all of the maintenance tasks continue with some added ones (e.g. mowing the miles of trails).   If you are interested in our kennel blood lines, please email us and we will get back to you asap.
Enjoy summer with Summer Place Kennel.  And stay tuned for some new plans for Winter, 2012-2013.